Pizza Cookies

There are two kinds of April Fool’s Day Jokes.  Good ones, and the ones that make you mad enough to punch someone.  Today I’m going to tell you a story about one of those not-so-great April Fools jokes.  Names have been changed to protect the guilty.

A few years ago, my friend “Eikcaj” called me up in a complete panic.  I could tell she’d been crying which immediately freaked me out because she NEVER cries.  When I asked her what was wrong, she dropped a bombshell.  She was unmarried and pregnant.  We talked for about an hour {no exaggeration} about what she was going to do…you know ALL those things you talk about when an unplanned pregnancy happens, how she was going to tell her dad, the baby’s father and on and on.  I’m pretty sure I even cried with her.  Then, she said the words…”April Fools!”

Have you ever been so mad that you wanted to LAUGHCRYSHAKEPUNCH someone?  Well, that’s about the only way I can explain the aftermath.  It’s a pretty good thing we lived five hours apart.  This is a little embarrassing to admit now, but it may have taken me almost a year to talk to “Eikcaj” again.

In hindsight, I might have overreacted a bit, but the moral of the story is that some April Fools jokes are not funny.  For the sake of friendship, please bypass the pregnancy scare pranks, and make funny cookies like this instead.How to make decorated pizza slice cookies!

Pizza cookies aren’t really a new concept. The first example I ever came across {which absolutely inspired mine} was created by CeRae.  I just have a fun little twist I thought I would share.  It begins with round plastic storage containers like these.

The new one came from Dollar Tree but, you’re better off scouting thrift stores for better quality cast off containers, if possible.  I found both a Tupperware and a Rubbermaid for around a dollar {the Tupperware was half off that day}.  Also, try to get something between seven and nine inches in diameter.

The most important thing is to make sure the container has a sharp lip like this.  Do you see where I’m going with this?

Anyway, get your husband {or neighbor} to drill a hole in the bottom of the bowl so that it doesn’t create suction when you use it.   I prefer the better quality containers because they stand up to a drill a lot better.

All this and you’ve got a very large, round pizza cutter.  From there it’s as simple as cutting it and using a knife {or a real life pizza cutter} to make slices.

Bake them up, and you’ll have a cookie that fits back together almost like the real thing.

Now to decorate.  I’ll try to keep this short and sweet.

You will need:

Begin by adding random blobs of red icing to the “crust” then use an offset spatula to spread them out a little.

Next, use tan twenty-second icing to make a crust like I did below.

Let the sauce and the crust dry, then it’s time to add the cheese.  Begin with the first layer.  I used my bottle to fill in the empty spaces then spread it around a bit with my spatula.

Let the first layer dry long enough to set, then come back and add more “cheese”.  This is one of those times that dripping is OKAY!

Let it dry, and you can be finished.  Unless you’re a toppings kind of person.

If that’s the case, add whatever else you like.  Oh yes, and if you want to get super realistic,  you can use a little brown petal dust to shade the crust, but that’s completely optional.

This cookie is a very good illustration of 20-second icing.  See that beautiful drippy cheese and that perfectly poofy crust?  That’s what 20-second icing can do.

Share a slice with your friends and skip the lame jokes.

Believe me, you’re friends will thank you for it…and maybe like you a bit longer too!

There are tons of fun April Fools Day treats around Internetland.  Here are a few of my faves.